Fenwick’s Ty Macariola plays with no fear and loads of passion.
The 6-1 junior’s game is to drive to the basket over and over. The results are almost always good: a basket or a trip to the free-throw line, where he’s pretty much automatic.
So it was on Friday, when Macariola scored a game-high 26 points as the Friars beat local rival Oak Park 56-47 in the Chicago Elite Classic at Credit Union 1 Arena.
The matchup is one of the fixtures of the annual event, bringing out huge student sections for both schools: Oak Park’s a sea of orange and Fenwick’s almost all wearing ugly Christmas sweaters and Santa hats.
Macariola has been coming to the CEC for years, so to be the star of the latest installment of the rivalry was surreal.
“I’ve been dreaming of this moment all my life,” he said.
One of his greatest basketball memories was from a night when he was sitting in the Fenwick student section with his cousin and Bryce Hopkins hit a game-winner for the Friars.
“I remember falling like, three rows,” Macariola said. “It was huge.”
Ditto for his performance on Friday. Macariola hit 6-for-10 from the floor and made all 13 of his free throws as Fenwick (4-2) led almost all the way.
He credits his relentless style to the influence of his father. “He’s one of the hardest-working people I know,” Macariola said. “And he’s always telling me to give 100%.”
“Ty is a true warrior, a true winner,” Fenwick coach David Fergerson said. “He leaves nothing in the tank. He plays that hard and he’s in the moment.”
The Friars also had big games from 5-6 junior guard Deonte Meeks and 6-5 junior forward Nathaniel Marshall, a Power Five football prospect.
Meeks had a key steal and, after being fouled, hit two free throws to push Fenwick’s lead to 52-41 with 1:17 left. He finished with 11 points, while Marshall made all six of his free throws, scored nine points, grabbed seven rebounds and added three assists, a steal and a block.
“I always tell him, ‘You’re the little engine that could,’” Fergerson said of Meeks. “I mean, ‘You’re the smallest dude on the court but you’ve got to make the most noise.”
Marshall, meanwhile is one of the biggest dudes on the court.
“Nate, he’s a professional athlete playing high-school sports right now,” Fergerson said. “Not every team has that.”
The win was a big bounceback for the Friars, who lost 55-25 to No. 5 Mount Carmel on Tuesday.
“It was a humiliating loss,” Macariola said. “We all knew that we were better than that, and we came out super sluggish. Coach, in practice the last few days, kept reminding us of that loss and that we had to bring the energy for this huge rivalry game.”
Oak Park (3-2) had 12 points each from Max Johnson and Alex Vincent. Alex Gossett had 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
“I thought we would come back like we did last year,” Huskies junior Justin Bowen Jr. said. “But I started cramping up, my body started shutting down on me. That’s my fault, I blame that on myself.”
Still, it’s been an encouraging start for the Huskies.
“Our chemistry, the way we play and everything feels way better than last year,” Bowen said. “We want to show the state that we’re here and we can really compete with everybody else.”
